Take old time music off the back porch, throw out the hillbilly reputation, and put it in the hands of a group of guys that like to work hard and play even harder. PERT NEAR SANDSTONE rejuvenates American stringband music with raw energy; they play tightly-crafted original material that lends itself to the modern audience, as well as being stewards of the old-time and bluegrass traditions. They are just as at home playing fully acoustic in the traditional style as they are plugged in at an indie rock venue. From saloons to theaters, hollering into a single microphone and laying thick rhythm on driving fiddle melodies, their sweat-inducing, foot-stomping live performances keep crowds begging for more all night long.

PERT NEAR SANDSTONE emerged from the same roots-based musical hotbed in Minneapolis that gave birth to Bob Dylan, The Jayhawks and Spider John Koerner. Originally formed by four friends from the same hometown, PERT NEAR SANDSTONE formed unintentionally over weekly, whiskey-fueled picking sessions in an old house in St. Paul, MN. They decided without any real intentions to start playing shows and the chemistry of their music and friendships, even early on, left people feeling like the party followed them everywhere they went. Word of the bands’ uncanny ability to whip audiences into frenzies spread and they were invited to play some of Minnesota’s most legendary venues including First Avenue, the Cedar Cultural Center and the Historic Orpheum Theater.

The band has been taking their show across the country, paying their dues in smoke filled taverns and roadside juke joints while organically building a dedicated following from coast-to-coast. Their formative years on the road painstakingly paved the Pert Near path as the band traversed from city-to-city winning over audiences “the old fashioned way”; face-to-face.

The band earned performances everywhere from the prestigious Telluride Bluegrass Festival to A Prairie Home Companion, and shared bills on the road with the likes of Trampled By Turtles, Del McCoury, and Yonder Mountain String Band. As their reputation grew, they cemented their status as linchpins of the Midwestern scene by founding their very own festival, Blue Ox, which has featured performances by Bela Fleck, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Shovels & Rope, Justin Townes Earle, Blitzen Trapper, and more.

In 2008, PERT NEAR SANDSTONE was hand-picked by Garrison Keillor to appear as the featured musical guest on A Prairie Home Companion where Garrison proclaimed that, “The group has become a force on the Minnesota roots music scene and beyond.” Fellow Minnesota speed-grass band Trampled by Turtles is proud to wave the Pert Near flag high and wide with band leader Dave Simonett calling PERT NEAR SANDSTONE one of his “favorite contemporary bluegrass acts in the United States.”

It was roughly a decade ago that PERT NEAR SANDSTONE first gathered around a microphone in a Minneapolis basement to record their debut album, Up And Down The River. So much has happened since then: highs and lows, personal struggles and artistic triumphs, new faces and new sounds. The winding road they've traveled over the years makes it all the more meaningful for the band to come full circle on their dazzling new release, Discovery Of Honey, which finds them once again recording in a basement and reuniting with founding member Ryan Young, who's spent the past seven years touring the world playing fiddle with bluegrass stars Trampled By Turtles.

The Heavy Set is a rock band out of Minneapolis whose latest studio release “Everybody’s Got A Mountain” has been met with local and regional acclaim. Just their first full-length album, “Mountain” was recorded at Real Phonic Studios, with local legend Erik Koskinen producing and engineering, and also has Kevin Bowe credited with engineering a track at IPR. Their single “River” was featured on The Current’s Local Show, and was placed twice on their annual Top 89 Polls (Top 89 Songs and Top 89 Local Songs). No strangers to the road, the band just finished a midwest tour in support of the album, and also landed a Daytrotter session, regional press and radio in-studios. Their debut studio release, the self-titled "Jake Ilika & The Heavy Set EP" was released in March of 2014.